Obama camp hits Romney for supporting Blunt amendment

President Barack Obama's campaign team blasted former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Wednesday after he voiced support for legislation that would allow employers to refuse to pay for health insurance coverage of specific services if it would be contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

“In one hour, Mitt Romney showed why women don’t trust him for one minute. It took little more than an hour for him to commit his latest flip-flop. Even worse, he ended up on the wrong side of an issue of critical importance to women,” Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, said.

During an interview with the Ohio News Network on Wednesday, Romney said he did not support the proposal, which was introduced as an amendment to an unrelated transportation bill by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO). Later that day, he said on the Howie Carr Show that he actually did support the Blunt amendment and had "simply misunderstood" the question before.

“The Blunt Amendment would allow any employer to deny their female employees coverage because of that employer’s own beliefs," Cutter added. "With his support of this amendment, Mitt Romney is taking important health care decisions about contraception, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings among other issues out of women’s hands and into the hands of their bosses.”

“While Mitt Romney may be in a race to the bottom with Rick Santorum to see who can pander most to the far right-wing, his embrace of extreme policies like the Blunt Amendment would have real life consequences for millions of women.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the amendment on Thursday.